Jack Grealish inspired Aston Villa to a last-minute win against Brighton and Hove Albion over the weekend.
Danny Murphy has waxed-lyrical about Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish as he claimed that he will ‘certainly’ become an England regular and backed him to potentially play for a top-three side.
The former midfielder also praised Grealish’s character and stated that he is proving his worth after ‘some doubts’ about whether he can produce the goods in the Premier League and applauded him for getting himself on track after ‘a few problems’.
Grealish burst onto the scene as a teenager and was Man of the Match for Villa during the 2015 FA Cup semi-final, but a season later, he was heading to the Championship with his boyhood club.
There were those who questioned his off-field antics, even though he was still a young lad, but having been in the dressing room with the likes of John Terry, Mile Jedinak, Steve Bruce, Glenn Whelan, Robert Snodgrass and Dean Smith, to name a few during these last few seasons, his character has been transformed.
Last season, he proved his worth by guiding Villa back to the Premier League, and after claims that he was the best player in the Championship last season, he has now shown that he can transcend those performances onto the big stage.
BBC Sport and TalkSport pundit Murphy had nothing but positive words to say about the highly-rated playmaker as he tipped him for big things in the future.
“There were some doubts about what he could produce in the Premier League,” Murphy told TalkSport. “He was there before as a younger player and didn’t play consistently well. What he has done at the start of this season is play tremendously well. He’s done that in a team that hasn’t won a lot of matches, but he’s taken responsibility, he’s played in various positions and he’s been absolutely outstanding.
“He’s had a few problems in the past, which I think is admirable in the fact that he has got himself on track. You can tell he looks fit and strong. You can tell he’s fully focused with the job in hand. What I like about him is that he’s so unique in comparison to the other midfielders we have got with England. He has wonderful gift of gliding past people with the ball. It’s effortless. His decision-making is getting better in regards to his assists. He’s getting into the box and scoring goals now.
“I think it’s an absolute certainty that he’s going to become an England regular and probably for me a starter as time goes by. Could he play for one of the top four or three teams? 100% yes. You’d treble that now [supposed £25m price-tag].”
Grealish scored and assisted at the weekend as he dragged his team over the line and to three points against 10-man Brighton.
For a number of weeks now, Grealish’s performances have started to pick up and Villa are now beginning to drive up the table as they face champions Manchester City at the Etihad on Saturday.
